Hyperextension braces are known to provide relief to patients suffering from diseases such as osteoporosis or from spinal injuries. The principal purposes of such braces are to hyperextend the spine to provide relief of pain and allow individual vertebrae to heal. A hyperextension brace is applied to the torso of the human body, applying pressure to the sternum and pubic area in connection with a lumbar pad and straps for tensioning the brace, causing hyperextension of the spine.
A problem with early hyperextension back braces is that the sternum and pubic pads were attached to the frame by a rigid mechanical hinge. Considering the frame and the hinge were relatively stiff, there was little to no flexibility of the pads in relation to the body of the patient. Consequently, initially hyperextension back braces were uncomfortable for the patient and could not be adjusted to accommodate individual patient sizes.
A hyperextension back brace, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,973 to Hendrix, recognized the problem of inflexibility between the sternum and pubic pads and the brace frame. Hendrix attempted to address this problem by incorporating a plastic attachment element bonded between the pad and the brace frame to provide a "living hinge." The attachment element is disclosed as being capable of flexing about a plurality of axes to bend and twist and thus enable the sternum pad to readily conform to variations in sternum shapes and forms.
A problem with the Hendrix brace is that its plastic attachment element is a thin strip bonded to a single surface of the metal brace frame. A problem with this design is that the plastic attachment element, being only a thin strip of plastic, would fail or be easily broken loose from its connection with the brace frame. Consequently, the Hendrix brace would constantly be in need of repair and be unavailable for the user. The hyperextension brace of this invention is based on the recognition of the problems associated with the plastic attachment mechanism and has solved these problems by eliminating the plastic attachment mechanism and utilizing a rigid mechanical hinge.
Thus, there exists a long-felt need in the art for a new and improved hyperextension brace which provides flexibility between the working ends of the pads and the frame, is light weight, inexpensive to manufacture, and has long term reliability.